What we eat has a huge effect on how we perform. 

Not just in the balance of macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat) but in the way each food affects us. 

We all know about food allergies, apparently increasingly common, where the person has a massive and rapid negative reaction to a specific item but there are some other ways what we eat influences our performance. 

One of the most important is the potential inflammatory response from consuming items that our body reacts to. This is known as a non IgE mediated reaction and are more commonly treated as food intolerances.  Because of the delayed onset, between 4 and 48 hours after ingestion, they are difficult to isolate. This also makes the effect harder to observe using standard clinical blood tests.

However, this background reaction can significantly effect not only every day life but athletic performance as well, due to the generalised inflammation it can cause. 

The most common reactive agents are: 

• Dairy
• Grain
• Seafood
• Nuts
• Soya
• Egg
• Nightshades (tomato,aubergine,peppers etc)
• Alcohol 

If you suspect that this is something you are dealing with, the safest way to detect these reactions is to follow a medically supervised exclusion diet under an experienced doctor so that they can help guide you towards avoiding the substances in question.